10 Amazing Hard Rock Songs Featuring Killer Guest Stars
6. Mr. Self Destruct - Nine Inch Nails
When talking about every Nine Inch Nails song, it doesn't really make sense to talk about the members. Though there have been some amazing players like Robin Finck and Richard Patrick that have come and gone over the years, Trent Reznor is really the mastermind that manages to bring everything to life. So when creating his magnum opus, it was a shock to see him go in the prog rock direction for some of the sessions.
While The Downward Spiral is not your typical guitar rock record, one of the defining sounds of the whole thing is Adrian Belew, who had already turned in time in acts like King Crimson before this. Instead of the normal shredding solos, Trent asked him to provide more ambient sounds for this record, which ended up turning into something beautifully hideous along the way.
On the song Mr. Self Destruct, you can practically hear that Adrian ended up making different primitive sounds on the frets and added layers of effects before being fed through the Reznor songwriting machine. After that, those regular riffs turned into something that could peel the flesh from your bones, especially alongside Trent's fierce vocal delivery. Given that this is the first song on the record, this was never supposed to be an album that was child friendly. This is the kind of record that you put on and hope you survive the experience.